In a Child's Eyes
by ZaKai
Summary: AU. Business man Heero Yuy gets more than he bargains for when he takes in eight year old Duo Maxwell as a foster child. Rating for some language and some angst later in the story.
1. A Charitable Action

**In a Child's Eyes**

**Chapter One**

**A Charitable Action**

Relena Darlian dumped the remaining coffee down the drain. Sighing, she started a new pot and returned to her carefully organized desk and frowned. The brunette secretary was not a neat freak in any way. Unfortunately her boss was, and he insisted her desk be clean and well organized. In her whole twenty-six years, Relena had never met anyone so obsessed about cleanliness as Heero Yuy. It wasn't just about cleanliness either. Mr. Yuy was obsessive about _everything_; thus the reason for the wasted coffee. Every hour Relena was to make a fresh pot of coffee. She had forgotten once when she had been a new hire and he had known. It was only two hours old, but after one sip the Japanese man dumped the cup down the drain and proceeded to lecture her on the importance of keeping fresh coffee available.

Relena sighed again at the memory as she sank into the chair at her desk. It wasn't really a bad job once she had figured out all of Mr. Yuy's idiosyncrasies. In fact it was actually a pretty good job; cushy with great pay, working for one of the most powerful business men in the world.

The European woman glanced at the clock. One hour. Heero Yuy had been gone for one hour which meant he would probably be back soon. Relena frowned and hoped Mr. Yuy wouldn't be in too bad of a mood when he returned. The chances of that happening were close to the chances of pigs flying into the office and dancing on her desk. The dark haired man was in a meeting with his father, Odin Lowe who was one of the original founders of Lowe, Yuy and Barton, inc. Her boss could get in a fowl mood just by hearing Odin Lowe's name being mentioned, let alone being in the same room with the man.

From what Relena had gathered, father and son had never been very close. To say Heero Yuy had been close to his mother would most likely be an overstatement, but they seemed to have been at least on speaking terms before she passed away three years ago. Relena figured this probably had something to do with the fact that Mr. Yuy's parents probably never had anything to do with their son

Relena didn't know much about her boss' childhood per say, but she did know that Heero Yuy had been sent away to college at the age of ten. He then graduated when he was sixteen with a masters degree in business. This prodigy child had then been put to work when he returned home. Relena had been hired when he was seventeen. Apparently he had been very picky about who he would hire, and when he did hire someone they ended up quitting after a week or two.

But not Relena Darlian. No. Twenty-two year old Relena had stayed despite her seventeen year old boss' moodiness and picky behaviors. With a six-year old daughter to raise, she needed the money.

Mr. Yuy hadn't been as powerful of a man when Relena had been hired, but after working for the dark haired man for a year his mother passed away leaving him _everything_ she owned and willed that he have her position in the business. This of course had made Mr. Lowe furious and the rift between father and son had become a great chasm.

The young business man knew the inheritance he had received was his mother's last attempt to get back at Lowe and not out of any great love for her son. Relena remembered vividly the day when her Japanese boss had burst into the reception area and told her to clear his schedule for the next month, gathered a few things in his office and stormed out, leaving the brunette to wonder if she had really seen tears in the young man's eyes or not.

Relena looked up as her thoughts were interrupted by a young Japanese man throwing open the door to her office and slamming it shut. Not saying a word to her, Heero Yuy stalked over to the coffee pot, poured himself a cup of the dark brown liquid, and sat in one of the sofas that dotted the large area.

Mr. Yuy didn't say anything as he sipped the hot liquid, but Relena knew that wouldn't last long. Relena sat back in her chair and looked at her boss while she waited for him to speak. At twenty-one, Heero Yuy was ruggedly handsome with wild dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes that were slightly slanted in the Japanese fashion. His face had sharp angles, yet still had a soft boyishness to it which was only emphasized by the fact that the young Yuy had almost no luck in growing facial hair and so remained clean shaven. Relena's boss was also a health nut and a devoted attendee at the gym which kept him in great shape. The combination of his Japanese heritage from his mother and his American heritage from his father had definitely made Heero Yuy into one interestingly beautiful specimen of a man.

"Do you think I make this company look bad?"

Relena raised her eyebrows at the unexpected question. "What do you mean?" She asked cautiously.

Heero stood, made his way over to the coffee pot and poured himself another cup. Relena waited patently, knowing that talking wasn't on her boss' list of things he liked to do.

"He says I make the company look bad because I haven't done anything good or charitable…"

Relena rolled her eyes. Odin Lowe was always trying to come up with ways to insult Heero or make him look bad. Lowe should have been the last one to criticize her boss for being uncharitable. In fact, Relena thought Odin Lowe and Takara Yuy had left all the charitableness to Trowa Barton, the third of the company's owners. She was about to say something to that affect when Heero said it for her.

"Mr. Barton has always been the one to do the charitable stuff. I don't see why he wants me to start doing it now too." The Japanese man said angrily.

_Because he's being a jerk_. Relena thought, but kept that to herself. "Is it so bad to have to do something good for other people?" She asked.

"No. That's not the point… What do you suggest I do?"

"Well… you could always donate a large sum of money to some good cause out there." Relena suggested.

The dark haired man shook his head. "He wants me to 'devote some time to helping others'. Of course he wants me to be doing that _and_ everything else I need to do in the company." He sighed and finished off his second cup of coffee before pouring himself a third.

"Well… you could help clean up a neighborhood."

Heero shook his head as he blew into the cup of hot liquid.

"You could…" As Relena began listing things, her Japanese boss continued to shake his head at each suggestion and after five minutes the brunette was hard pressed to find more good ideas.

"What about volunteering at a hospital? Help out at an orphanage? Take in a foster kid? Volunteer in some third world country? Join the Peace Corps? Um…" It was then that Relena noticed her boss had quit shaking his head and was giving her The Look, which meant he was thinking about something she had said.

"I could do that." Heero said after a moment of thought.

"Join the Peace Corps?" Relena asked, thinking he couldn't really be considering that.

"No, don't be ridiculous. I don't have time for that. Take in a foster kid. I could do that, I mean, it can't be too hard right. What is it, six months you have to keep the kid or something? … What?" Heero's eyebrows knit together at Relena's expression.

"Mr. Yuy… You can't really be serious." She said finally.

"Why? What's wrong with that idea? It's not like kids take up that much time."

Relena tried to keep in mind that her boss most likely didn't have very much attention from his parents as a child and wouldn't really understand the effort it would take to care for a foster child. "They take more time than you would think…" Relena began.

"You have a kid and you do just fine." He remarked.

Relena opened her mouth but couldn't find the right words. He had obviously forgotten all the times she had gotten off early or hadn't been able to come in because of a doctor appointment here or a school play there or even when her daughter had been sick.

Taking her silence for defeat, Heero nodded and said, "It's settled then. Why don't you make an appointment with some orphanage for me to pick out a kid."

"Mr. Yuy it doesn't work…" Relena began, but he cut her off.

"Tell them I'll give their organization a nice donation." Heero began to walk back to his office when he stopped and turned around. "Actually… Why don't you just tell them to have a kid waiting for me around six tonight. I'll take care of any paperwork and donations when I get there."

"But…"

Ignoring her protests, Heero Yuy turned around and headed toward his office glad to have gotten through another 'Odin Lowe' problem.

* * *

Father Quatre Winner looked over the budget for the little orphanage and sighed. There were just too many kids and not enough money. Unless something miraculous happened, they would have to send all the children to the State orphanage. The orphanage run by the state was a large facility with too many children and not enough staff members. The phone rang, bringing the blonde man out of his worried musings.

"Saint Peter's orphanage. This is Father Winner how can I help you?" Quatre said automatically.

"Good afternoon Father, my name is Relena Darlian I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment." Said a professional female voice.

"Of course. What can I help you with Ms. Darlian?"

Quatre's eyebrows rose as the women on the other line explained what she wanted.

"I'm really sorry Ms. Darlian, but we don't…" Father Winner began.

"Of course we are aware of your orphanage's state of monetary affairs and we would like to make a donation…"

Quatre bit the inside of his cheek. "Well… of course we always appreciate donations…" The thirty year old man felt a wave of guilt at even considering putting one of his precious children in this Heero Yuy's care in exchange for monetary compensation. But the fact remained that if his little orphanage went bankrupt all the children would probably be a lot worse off.

The blonde man sighed. "Alright Ms. Darlian, let me get some paperwork together and…" another sigh "Did Mr. Yuy specify any specific characteristics? Age? Gender? Well never mind that, I'm not letting a single man take a girl. Nationality? Personality characteristics? No?"

Quatre was interrupted by a his office door bursting open revealing Hilde Schbeiker, one of the volunteers, dragging a sullen eight-year old boy, sporting a long braid, behind her. Father Winner held up his hand as Hilde opened her mouth.

"Of course Ms. Darlian, in fact I think I know just the one for him." Quatre said, eyeing the boy Hilde had dragged in. "No, thank-_you_. Have a nice day. Uh-hu, good-by now." And with that, the blonde man hung up the phone.

"Alright what happened this time?" Quatre asked.

As the German woman began her rant about how the child had gotten into the janitor's closet, taken some urinal cakes and dropped them into the fish tank, Quatre watched the boy who was now chewing on the end of his braid and glaring at the floor. When Hilde was finished, Father Winner told her to leave the boy with him.

After the dark haired women left, Quatre walked around his desk and knelt on the floor next to the boy, who looked as though he was trying hard to keep from crying.

"Duo?" The blonde man asked gently. "Why did you put the urinal cakes in the fish tank?"

The small boy mumbled something the older man couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

When Duo looked up, a large tear spilled out of his eye and down one ruddy cheek. "Because they smell good and the fish tank stinks… so I thought the fish would like them… I didn't know it would kill them…" The little boy's brave front vanished and he started to sob. Quatre hugged the child until he quit crying.

"How would you like to live outside the orphanage for a few months?" Quatre said with a smile.

The small boy's eyes grew big. "You mean on the grass in the playground?"

At Duo's reaction the blonde man laughed out loud. "Goodness no! I mean in a foster home. There is a man who would like to take in a child for a few months. Would you like to go?"

Duo let go of his braid and smiled. "Can I?"

Father Winner smiled and nodded. "He's coming tonight, will that be alright?"

Duo nodded again and Quatre hoped he was doing the right thing.


	2. Duo

**In a Child's Eyes**

**Chapter Two**

**Duo**

"Ah. You must be Mr. Yuy." Said the blonde priest.

Heero nodded and held out his hand, which the other man shook with enthusiasm.

"I'm Quatre Winner. Why don't we have you sign a few things while Duo finishes his dinner."

Father Winner led Heero to his office and invited him to sit down. As the blonde man took his own seat his smile faded.

"Mr. Yuy. I just want to make sure this is really what you want to do. We usually don't do things this way, or this fast. Do you have space for this child? Are you going to be able to devote some of your schedule to this child? Will…"

Heero held up a hand to stall the questions. "I assure you the child will be well taken care of. Now, if we could please get to the forms? I'm a very busy man."

Sighing, Father Winner slid a small stack of papers to the young Mr. Yuy and asked him to read and sign each of the papers.

"You do realize that children require a lot of patience, don't you Mr. Yuy?"

Heero waved a hand in the air. With his attention still on the paperwork, he said, "Oh I'm very patient."

At the impatient dismissal, Quatre's eye began to twitch. "You know… I don't know if this is a very good idea Mr. Yuy…"

The businessman looked up and glared at the priest. "Do you want the donation or not?"

The thirty year old opened his mouth, but shut it quickly when he reminded himself he was doing the best he could for the greater number of children. Besides, Duo was a fun loving, happy child and despite, or maybe because of, the hardships the boy had gone through in the past, Quatre felt the long haired boy would be perfect for this situation.

When Heero finished with the papers he pulled out his check book and looked at the priest for a moment before beginning to fill out the check. Tearing the check from the checkbook, Heero handed the paper to Quatre and said, "I believe this will keep you going for a while."

When Quatre took a look at the amount he nearly fainted. _A while? This will keep us going for five years at least!_ He thought. With a shaking hand, Quatre filled out a receipt for the donation and handed it back to the young Japanese man. "Thank-you for your donation… I'm sure the Lord will bless you for it." Quatre said faintly. Heero nodded as a knock sounded on the office door.

"Come in." Father Winner called out.

A nun opened the door, let in a small child and excused herself from the room. Heero looked at the child. With the soft features and the long braid it would be easy to mistake the child for a girl at first glance, but Heero concluded after taking in the clothing that this child was definitely a boy.

Quatre stood and made his way around the desk. "Heero Yuy this is Duo Maxwell." The priest turned to the boy. "Duo this is Mr. Yuy. He's going to be taking care of you for the next six months. I'm sure the two of you will have a lot of… interesting… times together."

Duo nodded at Father Winner's words then smiled happily up at the Japanese man he had just been introduced to. Heero grunted and looked over the boy. Besides a small backpack, Duo had nothing else with him. "Where's the rest of your stuff?" Heero asked.

Duo smiled and pointed to the backpack.

Heero shook his head. "Besides that."

Duo gave the Japanese man a confused look then looked at Father Winner. "That's all he has, Mr. Yuy." Quatre said.

Heero nodded, stood and shook Quatre's hand again. "Alright. We'll see you in six months."

"We'll be calling periodically to check up on Duo. It's the regulations… but, uh… Mr. Yuy… please don't hesitate to call _us_ if you have any problems…" The blonde man said.

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Heero looked down at the small boy. "Let's go kid."

* * *

The warm August air hit Duo's face as he stepped outside, trying to keep pace with Mr. Yuy. The dark haired man walked really fast and the small boy had to almost run to keep up. When Duo saw the car Heero was getting into his eyes lit up.

"Wow! Is that your car Mr. Yuy?" Duo asked in excitement.

"No. I'm stealing it. What do you think?" The Japanese man answered sarcastically as he vaulted the door and landed in his seat.

The sarcasm was obviously lost on the boy because he said with a frown, "I think stealing is bad…"

Heero sighed in exasperation. "Kid. This _is_ my car. Now get in."

"How come it doesn't have a roof?"

"Because it's a convertible."

Duo threw his backpack in the seat and looked up at the man. "What's a convertible?"

"Just get in."

Duo smiled and started to climb up the door.

Heero's eyes widened and he yelled. "Not like that! Use the door!" But it was too late. Duo had already climbed over the door and plopped into the passenger seat next to Heero.

Eyes large and frowning, Duo looked up at the twenty-one year old business man. He had obviously done something wrong... "I'm sorry…"

Heero breathed out in a controlled manner before getting out of the car and checking out Duo's door. The silver paint had a couple of long scratches marring its surface. Breathing heavily, Heero looked down at the small braided boy.

Working hard to keep his temper in check, Heero said, "Don't. _Ever._ Do. That. Again."

"But… you did it… Duo whimpered.

"It's not your car. It's mine. Look at these scratches…" Heero made a growling sound in his throat.

"I'm sorry…" Duo whimpered again.

Heero waved a hand, obviously still fuming, and walked around to his side.

Duo kept quiet as they began to drive and Mr. Yuy got on his cell phone.

"Yes I need to get some scratches covered." A pause. "Heero Yuy… no with two Es… H E E R O. Yes. It's a BMW. M3 Convertible. Silver. Yes. Yes. Tomorrow." Another pause. "What do you mean you're all filled up tomorrow...? I guess Thursday will _have _to work won't it? Fine… Right. I'll have my secretary bring it in… Relena Darlian."

Duo looked up when he heard Mr. Yuy growl. "Darlian…. D A R L I A N. Yes that's how you spell her name… Yes I'm sure… She works for me, I think I know how to spell her name… alright… fine…" Heero slammed the phone down as they reached a stop light. "How the hell did that idiot get a job there… Don't they require their fucking employees to know how to spell…"

A small whimper reached Heero's ears and he looked over at his small passenger. Heero rubbed his eyes.

"… I'm sorry…" Was all Duo dared to say in the face of the Japanese man's anger.

Heero waved the apology away. "Don't worry about it. I'll bill you when you're older."

* * *

Heero pushed the button to close the garage and opened the door that led into the laundry room. Sighing, he took his shoes off and put them neatly on the shoe rack before slipping on a pair of soft soled slippers and walking into the living room through the kitchen.

Duo followed until the Japanese man stopped and turned around. Opening his mouth to give Duo the 'tour', Heero stopped what he was about to say and growled. Duo thought really hard but couldn't figure out why Mr. Yuy looked un-happy with him.

Heero kicked Duo's shoe covered foot with his slippered one. Duo looked down, back up to Heero, then down again before kicking Heero back. This must not have been what Duo was supposed to do because seconds later Duo found himself lifted off the carpet and carried back to the laundry room.

Heero put the small boy down. "Whenever you come in the house you take your shoes off and put them on the rack." Duo nodded. "Well…?" Heero exclaimed irritably. Duo sat on the floor and pulled off his shoes in such a hurry that one of them popped off his foot, flew out of his hands and hit Heero in the shin.

Another growl.

Heero picked up both the shoes and set them heavily on the rack. "We'll go tomorrow and get you some slippers but for tonight make sure you keep your socks on when you walk on the floor."

"Why?"

"Because if you walk barefoot on the carpet, oils from your feet get into the carpet and dirt sticks to the oils making the carpet dirty and breaking down the fibers."

Duo looked at the man like he was from a different planet.

"Nevermind. Just know that when you come in the house you take off your shoes and put on slippers, alright?"

Duo stood and nodded.

"Fine. Follow me and I'll show you around. This is obviously the laundry room… This is the kitchen. If you make a mess you're responsible for cleaning it up..." And so the tour went. The kitchen was open to the 'dining room' which curved around to the living room. The living room and the dining room had large windows that extended from the floor to the ceiling. Duo wanted to look out of the blinds and see what was outside, but controlled the urge as Mr. Yuy continued with the rest of the tour. There were four rooms on the main floor. The master bedroom, an office and two empty rooms. The master bedroom and the two empty rooms were on one side of the 'main entrance' and the office was on the other side of the 'main entrance' along with a bathroom. The main bedroom and the empty rooms each had their own bathrooms and large closets. (1)

Next to the bathroom there were stairs leading down and when Heero said nothing about them Duo asked, "What's down there?"

"The basement. It's not finished down there. I got a deal on this place by taking it without the basement being done." The dark haired man explained.

"Ooooh…"

"You're going to have to sleep on the couch tonight because I don't have another bed in the house… We'll have to add that to the list of stuff we need to get…" Pulling out a slim PDA, Heero began a list.

"Slippers, bed, guess it will need sheets and blankets…hmm…pillow…" Heero looked down at the boy and his small backpack. "What do you got in there?"

Duo slipped the pack off and opened it. A pair of pants, two shirts, two pair of socks, three boxers, a pair of PJs, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, a small box of crayons and some paper.

"That's it?" Heero asked, mildly surprised at how little there was. When Duo nodded, Heero added clothing to his list along with toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and soap. Slipping the PDA back into a pocket in his suit jacket, Heero glanced at the clock. It was a little after seven. "Well kid, I've got some stuff I need to get done. Don't stay up too late." And with that said, Heero made his way to the office leaving Duo alone in the living room.

* * *

Duo sat on the couch for ten minutes not sure what he should be doing. Mr. Yuy had said something about going to bed, but it was still early. He didn't usually go to bed until eight-thirty. Duo got off the couch and walked to the doorway of the office. The Japanese man's concentration was fully on whatever he was typing. Duo walked silently behind Heero and watched the young business man work for about five minutes.

"What are you doing?" Duo asked.

Heero turned around quickly. "Holy shit! How long have you been there?"

Duo shrugged then grinned. "I scared you."

"What? No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"No you … what do you want?"

"I'm _bored_." Duo complained in a whine.

"So go watch some TV." Heero said.

Duo shook his head.

"Why not?" Heero growled.

"I'm not allowed to watch TV by myself."

"Why not?"

"Because Father Winner says that there's a lot of evil stuff on TV and so we have to have grown-ups there so that we watch good stuff." Duo explained.

"Well Father Winner isn't here is he?"

Duo shook his head.

"That's right. I'm in charge and I say you can watch whatever you want, okay?"

Duo nodded but didn't move.

"Well? I'm busy here."

Duo sighed and left Heero to his work and returned to the living room. There were shelves cut into the wall for all of the electronics so they didn't stick out. Duo spent another five minutes examining the novelty of it all before he turned on the TV and started channel surfing. It took Duo about twenty minutes to get bored with what was on TV and he walked back to the 'entertainment center' were he remembered seeing some DVD cases.

As Duo looked through the DVDs his face began to get warm. There were naked people on all the cases. Choosing one of the DVDs, he put the disk in the player and what showed up on the screen made his mouth fall open.

* * *

Heero sent the e-mail he had been working on and stretched. It was strange to not be at the office. Heero usually only spent weekends at his official place of residence, and that was when he wasn't on business trips.

As Heero leaned over his keyboard to start another e-mail a sound from the living room caught his attention. The Japanese man cocked his head and listened to what was coming from the front room. Suddenly his eyes went wide and he rushed out of the office and into the living room where he found a very red faced boy standing in front of the TV, eyes wide, mouth open.

Heero pushed the stop button on the DVD player and glared at the kid. "You don't need to be watching that kind of stuff."

Duo looked at the Japanese man and said, "You said I could watch whatever I wanted."

"Well you can't watch that, it's not for kids."

Duo opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it instead and shrugged. Heero shook his head and began to walk back to the office when a tug on his suit coat stopped him.

"What?"

"I'm bored."

The dark haired man sighed. "What do you usually do at the orphanage?"

"Play games and stuff."

Heero pulled out his PDA and added games to the list. "We'll get you some games tomorrow, alright?"

Duo nodded and Heero went back to the office and worked peacefully… for ten minutes.

"Mr. Yuy?"

Heero growled. "What now?"

"I'm hungry."

"Didn't you already have dinner?"

"Yeah…"

"Then why are you hungry?"

Duo looked as though he was thinking hard before he shrugged and said, "I don't know…"

"Well, you know where the kitchen is."

Duo nodded and left, but didn't stay gone for too long.

"Mr. Yuy."

Heero said nothing, just turned his head slowly to look at the boy.

"I can't find anything to eat."

Heero sighed in exasperation and headed to the kitchen. He found a one pound bag of sugar in one of the cupboards and a few packets of herbal tea. In the fridge he found an outdated pint of cream and a couple of condiments. The freezer held two containers of coffee and some ice trays.

The blue eyed man closed the freezer, leaned against the appliance and looked down at the eight-year old for a few silent minutes before pulling a phone book from a drawer.

* * *

Duo watched as Heero unloaded the food from the sacks and opened the containers. Duo wasn't sure what the Japanese man had ordered but it all smelled really good.

"What's that?" Duo asked, pointing to some food he didn't recognize.

"Sushi."

"What's sushi?"

"Rice, nori, fish, and sometimes vegetables."

"What's nori?"

"Seaweed."

"Eww…" Duo looked closer at the offending sushi. "I don't think they cooked the fish very well…"

"It's suppose to be raw."

Duo reared his head back and exclaimed "_Eww_!" before looking over the rest of the food. The braided boy recognized the rice but it was all sticky, there were some fried vegetables and shrimp that Mr. Yuy called tempura and some kind of soup called miso. The miso soup was for breakfast Mr. Yuy explained.

Duo ate most of the tempura and after much persuasion, Heero managed to get the boy to try the sticky rice, which Duo loved. The sushi, however, was left to Heero since the boy was completely unwilling to try it and said, "Ewww." Every time Heero ate a piece.

When Heero returned to the office, Duo was still munching and the young business man had a whole hour of undisturbed work time before he realized he hadn't heard anything from the living room for a while.

Slowly Heero made his way to the dining room and saw Duo still sitting in his chair with his head on the table. As Heero made his way closer to the boy, he noticed Duo had begun drawing and fallen asleep on his artwork. The Japanese man picked up the sleeping boy, laid him on the couch and covered him with a throw blanket before returning to the table to clean up the leftovers.

When all the food was put away, Heero picked up Duo's artwork and smirked. Duo had drawn a fish in what looked like a sushi roll and a bubble that said, "Don't eat me!" in it. Heero set the paper and the crayons on the coffee table near the couch and turned off the lights.

* * *

1 – The descriptions given about Heero's place are taken from a place I've been before. The only thing untrue to the real thing is that the basement wasn't unfinished in the house I was in.


	3. A Silver Crayon

**In a Child's Eyes**

**Chapter Three**

**A Silver Crayon**

Relena set the phone down as the door to the reception area opened and Heero Yuy walked in with a young child in tow. The boy, who looked about seven or eight years of age, was looking in every direction as if overwhelmed by all the new sights.

"Ms. Darlian I have meetings until two this afternoon. I'm going to leave the kid in here. Please keep him out of my office." Relena's boss said briskly as he poured himself a cup of coffee then left.

Relena opened her mouth, as if to remind the Japanese man that she was a secretary, not a babysitter, but closed it as Mr. Yuy left, going who knew where. Sighing, she looked back to the boy who was now looking like a lost puppy. He was a cute child with large violet eyes and an unusually long brunette braid.

The European woman smiled at the boy. "So what's your name?"

* * *

Around two-thirty Heero opened the door expecting chaos, destruction and a frazzled secretary. Instead he found everything as it normally should be except for the small boy sitting on one of the couches reading a book and munching on a bagel.

As he made his way fully into the room, Duo looked up from the book and grinned. "Hi Mr. Yuy." The boy said cheerfully.

"Hn."

Relena looked up, scowled and looked as if she were going to give him a piece of her mind. Instead she nodded toward the laptop case he was holding. "I see you got it back. Did they find out what was wrong with it?"

Heero sighed in exasperation as he made his way to the coffee pot. "They said it's just old. They recommended getting a newer model."

Relena smiled a small smile in amusement. Her boss had once mentioned having that particular laptop since he was a kid. He had upgraded the laptop many times instead of buying a new one. The laptop obviously meant something special to him, but what that was Relena couldn't guess.

"Do you think you'll buy a new one?" She asked.

"Maybe…" He said hesitantly then changed the subject. "Have a good day?"

The brunette woman smiled. "Absolutely. Duo and I had a fabulous day together, didn't we Duo?"

Duo nodded without looking up from the book. Heero eyed his secretary as if to see if she was being sincere. Relena's smile only grew larger at the look on her boss' face. "Really. Duo is a delightful boy, I'm sure he'll fit in well when you put him in school."

_School?_ Heero thought. The thought of having to put the boy in school hadn't crossed his mind.

Relena continued to smile as if she knew exactly what was going on through Heero's head. "I'm sure you've already been thinking about what private school you're going to put him in, but my daughter goes to the public school on Fifty-Fourth Street and she loves it there. School starts the week after next for all the schools, so you might want to get him registered."

Heero nodded. "Sounds good. Why don't you…"

"I can't. Sorry but since you're the guardian you'll have to do it."

Growling, the young business man pulled out the PDA and added it to his list.

"I'm done!" Duo exclaimed and hurried back to Relena. The boy gave the book back to the secretary then turned to Heero. "Are we going to go now Mr. Yuy?"

Heero looked from the young boy to his secretary with hooded eyes. Something was going on. There was no way Relena could have had a wonderful day with the kid around? Relena, for her part, only smiled pleasantly at him… as if she had some hidden well of knowledge that she drew on for keeping noisy brats under control. The Japanese man opened his mouth to ask how she did it, but closed it again. If she could manage, then so could he. After all… he dealt with some of the toughest business men in the world on a regular basis…

* * *

By the time they got around to grocery shopping it was already seven in the evening and Heero Yuy thought he had never been so exhausted in his life. They had picked out a bed, dresser and desk for Duo's room with no problems and arranged for them to be delivered around eight that evening.

Shopping for clothing had been a harrowing experience. It seemed to Heero that Duo had tried on every piece of clothing in the boys department before they settled on four pairs of pants, ten shirts, three packages of socks, six boxers, two pair of shoes and a pair of slippers.

After a half hour of, "Can we get that? Can we get this?" from Duo and the repetitive response of, "It's not on our list." from Heero, the business man finally snapped at the boy to "shut the fuck up." This, he found, was a mistake. Every woman in the children's department glared at him for the rest of the time they were there, and one woman actually walked up to him and started lecturing him on not swearing and the proper way to raise children.

As they made their way to the lower section of the department store, Heero realized the boy's bathroom would need a shower curtain and some towels. When he explained this to Duo, the braided boy said, "But it's not on our list."

Heero had glared at the boy and then said, "You're right. You don't need that kind of stuff" and turned away from the bathroom department. It was only seconds later that Duo was pulling on Heero's suit jacket telling the man he was just kidding as he begged for another chance.

The toy department was no less stressful. Heero ended up buying a whole slew of board games, art supplies and pokemon cards after Duo had run through the store pointing out things he wanted.

After letting Duo pick out his bedding, which was plastered with bright colors and different pokemon, and paying for all the merchandise, Heero vowed never to set foot in a department store again. It was only as the two were nearing Heero's residence that Duo's complaints about being hungry reminded the Japanese man that they still needed to shop for food and they only had an hour before the furniture store was going to drop off what they had bought earlier.

So that's how they ended up in the check out line of the closest supermarket with a basket full of food Heero would have never touched with a ten foot pole arguing with an eight year old boy about whether or not cow's milk was good for the body.

"Father Winner says milk helps your bones grow strong."

"Cow milk is meant for baby cows to develop cow brains. Do you know how small cow brains are? Cow milk is not meant for people. Soy milk is much better for you."

"Oh yeah? Well soy nuts don't have any brains at all so how is soy milk good for people?" Duo countered.

Heero looked at the clerk who had scanned everything and was waiting expectantly. When she had the Japanese man's attention she asked, "Do you have a store card?"

"A what?"

"A store card. You get all kinds of savings…"

But Heero didn't let her finish. "No I don't have one, no I don't want one. I just want to pay and get out of here." He said as he swiped his bank card in the card reader.

"If cows should drink cow milk then maybe people should drink people milk. How come they don't sell people milk at the store?" Duo asked innocently.

The store attendant did an excellent job at keeping her face neutral; this could not be said for the teenage boy who was bagging the groceries and snickering openly.

"Mr. Yuy is there people milk? If there is maybe we should get some?"

"Let's talk about this when we get out of the store okay?" Heero replied in frustration.

"Why?"

Snatching his receipt from the casher, Heero shortly told the bagger he definitely did not need help taking the groceries to the car, as he exited the store as quickly and humanly as possible, with Duo running after him.

* * *

Heero dumped the last of the things he had bought for Duo in the middle of the boy's floor after the furniture people left.

"Make sure you get all this put away before you go to bed." Heero said with a growl before leaving the boy's room. He started towards the kitchen with the intention of making a pot of coffee, but decided against it and headed to his office. Heero was already so tired that the coffee probably wouldn't do much for him anyway.

Heero sat down, turned on his computer, then absentmindedly reached for a cup of coffee that wasn't there. He grunted and drummed his fingers on the desk as the Windows logo showed up on the screen. His eyes wandered from the screen to the small liquor cabinet that he kept around mostly incase his father showed up. Odin Lowe downed liquor in the same quantities that Heero consumed coffee.

Absentmindedly, Heero got up, walked to the cabinet and opened the small wooden door. He picked up one of the bottles that he knew contained scotch and poured himself a glass. Alcohol wasn't his addiction for several reasons, one of which had to do with his father's love of the stuff, the other had to do with the fact that Heero Yuy hated going to sleep.

In sleep, memories were no longer memories, but the real thing… In sleep, carefully hidden emotions came out to play and haunted his dreams.

But tonight he was going to sleep whether he wanted to or not. The only difference the liquor gave was that he might possibly avoid dreaming. A fifty-fifty chance, but still worth it.

Heero resisted the urge to just gulp down the beverage and be done with it. He didn't carry his alcohol well, so one glass was all Heero needed for the desired effect. But instead, he sipped from the glass thinking about the day's events. Who could have imagined having a kid would be so expensive? It was like getting a pet. There's a large expense up front but then it's smooth sailing after that. At least, that was Heero's conclusion at the moment.

He worked until ten before deciding to go to bed. Turning off the computer, the blue eyed man began loosening his tie as he walked toward his bedroom. When he noticed the kid's light was still on, Heero walked to the room and looked inside. The art supplies were scattered all over the desk, the bedding was piled on top of the bed in a lump and the clothes and bathroom supplies were still lying in the middle of the floor. The pokemon cards, however, were placed neatly on top of the dresser.

But there was no Duo in the room.

Heero walked into the room and looked around. Indeed there was no Duo in there. Heero checked in the boy's bathroom.

No Duo.

Thinking the boy was probably getting something to eat, Heero walked to the kitchen. It was then that he noticed the door to the garage was slightly open. The twenty one year old opened the door and found Duo…

… with a crayon…

…kneeling by his car…

"What… the… _fuck_ are you doing?" Heero seethed.

The boy looked up at Heero with large nervous eyes. "I'm fixing the scratches."

"You're…what?"

Duo held up the crayon. "See it's silver just like your car. I'm fixing the scratches."

Heero walked to where the boy was kneeling and looked at the car door. The color of the crayon definitely did not match the paint on the BMW. Too angry to say anything, Heero whipped his arm out and pointed toward the door. When Duo didn't move, Heero growled, "_now_."

The braided boy scrambled to his feet and walked toward the door. When he got there Duo turned around and looked at Mr. Yuy.

"Are you mad?" Duo asked in a small voice.

It was then that Duo had his first encounter with the 'death glare', as the braided boy later dubbed it. He felt confused. Why was Mr. Yuy so mad? He just wanted to make everything better, he just wanted Mr. Yuy to like him… The boy's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to help…"

Heero put a hand to his head trying to block out the memory of another little boy, a half Japanese one with dark hair and blue eyes, saying the same thing.

'_I was just trying to help...' Came the child's plea._

_The only answer to this was, 'You're no help at all. Until you can act like an adult I can't be bothered with you. Now get out!'_

Heero rubbed at his eyes and told himself the wetness there had nothing to do with the memories, but with the fact that he had been drinking. The young man looked up at the sniffling boy who was standing by the door, looking sad and pitiful. It was just too much. He needed to get away from the situation before he did or said something he knew, deep in his subconscious, he would regret later.

When Heero started walking toward the door, Duo scrambled into the house, sprinted to his room and shut the door. The American boy decided he definitely didn't want to deal with an angry Mr. Yuy at the moment. Turning off his light, Duo crawled on the mattress and under the pile of bedding. Sniffling, the boy decided he would do something extra nice for Mr. Yuy tomorrow so that he wouldn't be mad anymore… then promptly fell asleep.


	4. Mr Barton

**In a Child's Eyes**

**Chapter Four**

**Mr. Barton**

Still half asleep, Heero slapped his hand on the snooze button to make the loud buzzing noise go away. When it didn't stop, he pushed the snooze button again and successfully managed to knock the alarm clock off the nightstand. However, the buzzing continued and Heero cracked one eye open. Suddenly the Japanese man's eyes few open and he sat bolt upright. It wasn't the clock that was making the noise…

It was the smoke alarm.

Throwing the covers off himself, Heero rushed out of his bedroom. In the kitchen he found Duo standing on a chair near the stove over a pan, happily ignoring the loud noise of the alarm. The burner was turned to high and the Teflon from the pan was starting to smoke.

Quickly, Heero rushed to the stove and turned off the burner. The half burnt, half raw substance in the pan looked as if it used to be eggs, though what it was now was anyone's guess. Heero, still trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes, looked down at the young wanna-be chef.

The boy smiled brightly as he yelled over the alarm, "Good morning Mr. Yuy. I made you breakfast."

Heero gazed at the mess scattered over the stove and the counters. As suddenly as it turned on, the smoke alarm turned off, leaving an unpleasant buzzing in Heero's ears. His wondering eyes fell on the goop in the pan.

Looking at the boy, Heero said in almost a monotone voice, "There's no way I'm eating that shit. Clean this mess up."

Duo's smile faded as Heero walked to the coffee pot and started the brew. The boy's lower lip began to tremble as he closed the egg carton, climbed down from the chair and put the remaining eggs in the fridge.

Heero returned to his room, made his bed, showered, dressed, shaved… because he wanted to, not because he needed to, and made his way back to the kitchen. The boy looked up from rinsing out a rag in the sink, a sad frown on his face. "I'm done." Duo said softly.

Heero walked over to the stove and inspected Duo's work. "You left streaks here and here… you missed a spot here… make sure you dry the counter after you wash it…" He looked over at Duo and said calmly, "This isn't good enough. Do it again."

After downing a cup of coffee, Heero grabbed his briefcase, laptop and keys and began putting on his shoes. Duo, still standing on the chair, looked over at the young business man.

"Are we going back to see Relena?"

"_We_ are not going anywhere. _I_ am going. _You_ are staying here."

"All by myself?" Duo asked softly.

"What? Do you have a problem with that?"

_Yes_. Duo thought. "No." Duo said.

"Good. Make sure you get that stuff in your room put away by the time I come home." Heero said as he reached for the door knob.

"Mr. Yuy…"

"What?"

"When will you be home?"

"I don't know. Maybe around six or seven." And with that said, Heero walked out the door.

* * *

Relena looked up as Mr. Yuy walked in the door and frowned when she saw he was alone.

"Where's Duo?" She asked automatically.

"What? No good morning?"

"Good morning Mr. Yuy."

Heero nodded. "Good morning Ms. Relena."

Relena watched her boss head toward the coffee pot, then asked again, "Where's Duo?"

"At home."

The brunette sucked in her breath and said, "You're not going to leave him there alone all day are you?"

"That's correct."

"Mr. Yuy you can't do that." She said sternly.

Heero turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I can't be dragging him around all day."

"You can't leave an eight year old boy home all alone."

"Well I don't want him here." Heero snapped.

"What happened?" Relena asked softly.

Heero eyed his secretary. It wasn't in his nature to talk about personal issues, especially at work, but with her it was different. Relena always had an open ear, and she usually picked up on what was going on very well. Even when he didn't say things out right, Heero had a feeling that she genuinely cared and understood, or at least wanted to understand. Why not just tell her? He reasoned with himself. After all, she had a kid too…

So Heero told her about the car, and the crayons, and the mess, and the breakfast episode, and the fact that the kid wouldn't leave him alone to work. When he finished, Heero noticed that his secretary was trying hard not to smile.

"It's not funny."

She nodded. "Mr. Yuy… it sounds like Duo just wants you to like him and pay attention to him. He really is a very nice little boy…"

"He does everything wrong."

"Then teach him how to do what you want done."

"I've told him…"

She shook her head, "You have to show him." She paused, then added, "Nicely."

Heero rolled his eyes, pulled his keys from his pocket and tossed them to the European woman. "I have an appointment to get those scratches fixed this morning. I'd like you to take care of that."

"Do you mind if I leave early and pick Duo up?"

"Do whatever you want. As long as I don't have to deal with him." Heero said as he headed back towards his office.

"Oh, Mr. Yuy. Don't forget you need to get Duo registered for school soon because school starts the week after next."

"Shit…"

Shaking her head, Relena picked up her purse and headed out to the car.

* * *

Relena unlocked the front door to Mr. Yuy's house and let herself in. As she closed the door, Duo rushed around the corner. When he saw who it was his face broke out into a huge smile.

"Relena!" He yelled as he rushed over to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to take Mr. Yuy's car in to get the scratches fixed. Do you want to come with me?"

Duo nodded enthusiastically. Relena looked closely at the boy. The boy's braid was messy and his hair looked greasy. He was also wearing the same clothes from the day before. Looking at her watch, Relena decided there was enough time to give the boy a bath.

"Before we leave you need to take a shower and change your clothes."

"Okay." Duo said. "Do you want to see my room?"

Relena nodded and stepped forward, but stopped when Duo put up his hand and said sagely, "You have to take off your shoes or the carpet will get dirty from the oils."

_What are you teaching this kid?_ She thought in amusement as she took off her shoes and followed the long haired boy to his room.

After showing her all the new stuff, Duo frowned and said, "Mr. Yuy says I have to have it all put away by the time he gets home but I don't know where to put it all."

She nodded. "Why don't you pick out some clothes and shower, and when you're done we'll put it all away together, but you need to hurry or we'll be late getting the car fixed."

Duo quickly grabbed his clothes and ran to the bathroom. As the boy showered, Relena checked the stove and the counter in the kitchen. The boy had done quite a good job for his age. Grabbing a rag she got the spots Duo had missed, then turned off the coffee machine and rinsed out the pot. She also looked around the living room to see if anything needed picking up. When she saw what DVDs the entertainment center held she shook her head, gathered them all up and put them in a garbage sack with a note telling Mr. Yuy to keep such movies out of Duo's reach. She would have preferred to throw the porn in the trash, but it wasn't her property and putting the DVDs in a sack was as far as she dared to go.

When Duo was finished with his shower, Relena brushed out the boy's hair and braided it for him. Then they quickly went about finding places for Duo's new belongings. After making the bed together and tidying up his desk, they headed out to the auto body shop, then back to the office.

* * *

When the glass coffee pot slid out of his hands and crashed onto the kitchen floor, Duo felt a cold sweat cover him. He stood still and listened hard. From the rustling he heard in the other part of the house, Duo knew that he was going to have a very un-happy Mr. Yuy to deal with in a few minutes.

Duo ran to the laundry room in search of a broom and dustpan in hopes that he could clean up the mess before the Japanese man could make it to the kitchen. As Duo made his way back into the kitchen with the cleaning supplies, he stopped. Standing at the scene of the crime was Mr. Yuy, and as Duo had predicted, he looked very un-happy.

"Explain." Heero said shortly.

"I was going to make you some coffee…" Duo began.

Heero glared. "Do you even know how to make coffee?"

"Relena showed me yesterday…"

"So someone shows you something once and you think you can do it?"

"Father Winner says I have a really good memory because I remember lots of things." Duo explained, hoping Mr. Yuy wasn't going to yell at him.

Heero shook his head, put a hand to his head and sighed. "Clean this up and get dressed."

* * *

"Just _pick_ something." Heero commanded for the tenth time.

Duo franticly raked his eyes over the Starbucks menu. He had his choices narrowed down to two things but he couldn't seem to decide… A growling sound from the dark haired man spurred Duo to say, "Caramel Apple Cider please."

The lady at the counter smiled at Duo and said, "That's a great choice. You know, the Caramel Apple Bar goes great with that…" The last was said while looking at Mr. Yuy.

The Japanese man growled at the clerk's obvious attempt to make a sale.

"Can I have that Mr. Yuy?" Duo asked.

"You don't need to eat that kind of stuff."

"Please…" Duo begged.

"No." Heero said firmly.

"But… I'm hungry…"

"No means no."

Duo looked up at the businessman with large watery eyes and made a small whimpering sound.

"Absolutely not."

* * *

When Heero turned off the engine Duo happily grabbed the cup of cider, opened the car door and got out. The impish boy turned around and smiled a toothy grin at Heero who was still in the car.

"Are you coming Mr. Yuy?"

Heero looked at the boy then down at the passenger seat. Crumbs from the Caramel Apple Bar were scattered all over the area Duo had been sitting in, some of them even ground into the seat. Remnants of the sticky caramel sauce glistened on the door handle as the florescent lights in the parking garage shone down on the car. The twenty-one year old business man tried to remain calm and remember that at least he had been able to stop Duo from spilling the cider.

"Are you okay Mr. Yuy?" Duo reached over to grab a hold of the door but stopped when Heero quickly raised his hand and looked warningly at the boy.

"Don't…" Heero began.

Duo looked at his sticky hand, then back to Heero with a grin slowly forming on his face. With drawn out exaggeration, Duo brought his hand close to the door. The dark haired man glowered even more deeply at the boy.

"Don't even think about it." Heero warned.

Duo grinned. "But I'm already thinking of it," he said and he brought his hand closer to the convertible's door.

The Japanese man growled and got out of the car, intent on physically moving the boy away from the car. When Heero made it halfway around the car, Duo quickly set his drink on the hood of the BMW, then slammed both sticky hands on the door.

"You little…" Heero began as he walked faster to the braided boy.

"Can't catch me!" Duo yelled before running away from the car.

It took Heero about ten minutes to catch the boy, who was weaving in between parked cars, laughing as he tried to keep out of the irritated man's reach. When Heero caught Duo, he held the boy's wrists above his head to keep Duo's sticky hands away. With his other hand, Heero shook his finger at the boy.

"Didn't I tell you not to touch the fucking door?"

Duo nodded, trying his best to look sorry.

"Why did you touch it then? What the hell was going through your…"

"What's going on here?" A calm voice asked.

Both Heero and Duo turned to look at the speaker. Duo blinked. The man who had spoken was very tall, brunet, and sporting the strangest hair style the boy had ever seen.

"Mr. Barton… You're back," was all the blue-eyed man could think of to say.

The tall man nodded and smiled at the younger businessman's obvious statement.

"So tell me young Heero, what this all about? Your beautiful secretary told me you've taken in a foster child. Is this him? " The man with the strange hairstyle asked as he gestured at Duo.

Heero nodded, but said nothing.

"Are you having difficulties already?" The forty-five year old businessman asked mildly.

The question struck at the core of Heero's pride. "Of course not."

"Then tell me Heero, what is this all about?" The man gestured at Duo again, whose hands were still held above his head by Heero.

"We were having a… discussion…"

"Ah. I see," said the brunette as he walked closer to the two. Mr. Barton gently removed Duo's wrists from Heero's grip and inspected the small sticky hands. "Well young man, it seems as if you have quite a mess here don't you?" The older businessman asked kindly.

Duo nodded then said, "How come you sound strange when you talk?"

The tall man smiled, reached in his suit coat pocket and removed a small packet. Tearing open the package, he removed a wet-nap and began wiping Duo's hands. "Do I sound strange?"

Duo nodded, looking a bit abashed. "A little…"

"Well, that's because when I was a little boy I didn't speak English."

"What did you speak?"

"French."

Duo seemed to be carefully considering this new knowledge.

"I've never quite been able to get rid of my accent though… There we go. All clean."

Duo looked at his hands and smiled brightly. "Thank-you Mr. Barton."

"You're welcome, but please call me Trowa, none of this Mr. Barton stuff." Trowa stuck out his hand. "And I don't believe you told me your name…"

"Duo." The long haired boy replied while shaking the older man's hand.

Trowa turned to Heero and said, "Well you have a very nice young man here."

"Hn. If you say so Mr. Barton."

The French businessman sighed. "Again Heero, I'd like you to call me Trowa."

Though Heero nodded curtly, Trowa knew it wouldn't be that easy to get Lowe's son to call him by his first name. Not now. The brunet smiled a sad smile. There had been a time that Heero had called him by his first name, but pressure and molding from Odin Lowe and Takara Yuy, combined with six years of college had changed the once open and friendly Japanese boy into the man he was today.

Trowa glanced at his watch. "Well, I have a meeting soon. It was good to meet you, young Duo and, of course, it's always good to see you Heero."

Heero nodded and watched the French man walk away from Duo and himself. After a moment, the dark haired man looked down at the child beside him.

"Let's go." Heero said bluntly.

Duo began to nod then stopped. "Wait, what about my drink?"

The Japanese man sighed in exasperation as Duo ran back to the car to retrieve the cider. After a few minutes Duo returned with two cups bearing the Starbucks seal.

"You forgot yours too." Said Duo brightly as he handed Heero his coffee.

Heero stared at the happy boy for a moment before silently taking the cup.

"Let's go." Heero repeated softly and began to walk in the direction Trowa had gone.


	5. Playground

**In a Child's Eyes**

**Chapter Five**

**Playground**

Duo sat at the table and gazed into the kitchen. The braided boy, like most children left to their own devices, loved to stay up late and would usually fall asleep in the middle of something if not put to bed at a decent hour. Unlike most children however, Duo loved waking up early, and this morning was no exception.

As Duo continued to gaze into the kitchen, his stomach growled as if asking the small boy why it wasn't being fed. The answer to that was simple. Mr. Yuy had forbidden the American boy from going into the kitchen when Heero wasn't there. Duo's gaze moved over the sink, the stove, the cupboards, the fridge, the counters… and stopped on the new coffee pot the Japanese man had picked up the day before.

Frowning, Duo looked over his shoulder to where the bedrooms were located. Duo didn't want to wake Mr. Yuy up, but he was really, really, really, really hungry. For five more minutes Duo sat in silence, listening to the ticking of the clock and swung his slippered feet under the chair, trying to not think about being hungry.

The small boy sighed. It wasn't working. Slipping off the chair, Duo padded quietly to Mr. Yuy's room and cracked open the door. When the child saw his temporary guardian asleep, he opened the door all the way and stepped inside.

There wasn't much in the room. A bed, two nightstands and a dresser were all that were in the room. Duo walked to the dresser. The dresser was short and long, and had six drawers, two on the right, two in the middle and two on the left.

A few picture frames dotted the top of the dresser. One of the pictures had a group of people around a younger Mr. Yuy, who was dressed in a black cap and gown, holding a rolled up paper in his hands. Everyone was smiling, even Mr. Yuy had a slight smile on his face, though to Duo it didn't look as if Mr. Yuy wanted to smile.

The next picture showed a Mr. Yuy who looked to be about Duo's age, being held upside-down by a younger version of the man Duo had met yesterday. Mr. Barton… No, not Mr. Barton, Trowa… Both Trowa and the child Heero were smiling. Trowa looked as though he were trying to grab the camera while holding a laughing Heero.

The third picture was a framed newspaper clipping of an eleven-year old Mr. Yuy holding some sort of award. According to the article, Mr. Yuy had won some chess tournament. Duo thought that he should ask the Japanese man to teach him how to play sometime.

The last picture was actually a book of some sorts. Duo picked it up. The book was somehow made up of a bunch of thin frames all hooked together. It looked expensive and Duo thought for a moment that maybe he should put it back. But curiosity got the better of him and he opened it.

The first picture was that of a strong looking blonde man and a petite looking woman with dark hair who was large with child. The next picture showed the same couple, this time with the baby born and being held by the woman. Duo watched the three people get older and older as he flipped the pictures. By the sixth picture, it was obvious to Duo that Mr. Yuy was the child in the pictures. The braided boy thought perhaps the dark haired boy in the pictures looked sad and lonely.

Setting the picture book down, Duo looked at the few other items that dotted the dresser, which consisted of Mr. Yuy's laptop, his wallet and his keys. Duo was about to pick the wallet up when his stomach reminded Duo why he was here.

The boy made his way around to the side of the bed. Two bags were lying on the floor near the wall. Duo remembered Relena saying that he wasn't allowed to see what was inside until Mr. Yuy showed him, so he ignored the bags and concentrated on the mission before him.

Duo climbed on the bed and over to the young businessman. The long haired boy looked down at the sleeping man and thought that Mr. Yuy didn't look so grouchy in his sleep. Reaching over, Duo gently laid a hand on Mr. Yuy's shoulder.

"Mr. Yuy…" Duo whispered.

The Japanese man slowly opened his eyes, blinked, then gazed at the young intruder. Duo watched as the man looked at the alarm clock, then back to the braided boy.

"Baka na gaki… Gozen rokuji da…. Nan da no?"(1) The dark haired man muttered.

Duo stared for a moment. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'I'm sleeping. Go away'."

"But… I'm hungry and you said I can't go in the kitchen."

Mr. Yuy closed his eyes and Duo thought he was being ignored so the braided boy opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off when the blue eyed man spoke. "Fine… Go out to the living room. I'll be there in a few minutes."

* * *

Heero looked down at the two bags his secretary had given him the day before. One was labeled 'morning' and one was labeled 'night'. Relena had said that these would help him get some work done. She had also said not to open the bags until he had read the instructions that came with them. Heero picked up the envelope attached to the 'morning' bag and read the paper inside.

_Mr. Yuy,_

_To get work done this morning you will need to take Duo, this bag, and your laptop along with whatever else you need for work, to the local park. There are tables where you can sit to work and still keep an eye out on Duo. Whenever Duo asks you for something, look in the bag. When the bag is empty it will be time to leave. _

_Also, for every hour you are there you must pay attention to Duo for at least ten minutes. This is very important. If you fail to heed these last instructions, you'll get nothing done._

_Sincerely,_

_Relena Darlian_

_P.S. __Don't forget the sun block. _

After reading the letter, Heero looked inside the bag and raised an eyebrow. He didn't know how this was supposed to help, but it was worth a try.

* * *

Heero looked at his watch. Four minutes past one o' clock… The young business man looked over at the playground and watched as the children swarmed like ants over the large colorful disease carrying mound that Duo called the 'Big Toy'.

When Duo saw that Heero was looking toward the playground, he waved cheerfully and called for the man to watch him cross the monkey bars. Heero watched disinterestedly as the eight year old 'monkey' crossed from bar to bar. When he was finished, Duo ran to where the dark haired man was sitting.

"Did you see?" Duo asked with excitement.

"I was watching you wasn't I?" Heero answered irritably.

Duo paused for a moment to take in what the Japanese man had said before leaning over to look at the laptop.

"What's that?" Duo asked and started to bring his finger close to the screen.

"Don't touch." Heero said shortly.

The boy looked up in confusion. "Why?"

"Because you're dirty and you've been crawling all over that… _thing_…"

"So…"

Heero raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth. So? So…? Didn't this kid care at all that other children with snot dripping from their noses have been touching the same things that he had been? Obviously not… The twenty one year old closed his mouth and scowled.

"Just don't touch it. I mean it."

Duo shrugged and looked at the bag. "Is there anything else in there?"

Heero eyed the bag. True to Relena's letter, whenever Duo had needed anything the bag provided it. There had been a bottle of water when the boy complained that the drinking fountain didn't work; a box with some band-aids when Duo cut his finger; a snack when Duo said he was hungry; a frisbee when the long haired boy complained that _everyone_ else but him had a toy to play with…

_Well, let's see if the magic bag has any more tricks._ Heero thought as he looked inside.

A lone bottle of sun block stared back at him from the inner reaches of the bag. The words DON'T FORGET was written on the bottle. Heero looked up at the boy standing next to him. Duo, who was looking in the bag as well, looked up at Heero.

"Don't forget what?" Duo asked.

Heero's eyes wondered over the boy. He did look … a little pink … no big deal. "I think you were supposed to have sun block on."

Duo looked at the man in horror and backed away. "Are you going to put it on me now?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not touching you. The bag's empty… that means it's time to go." Heero said as he began packing his work away. When he was finished, Heero looked around to find Duo back on the playground.

"Let's go." Heero yelled.

"No! I don't wanna go."

"Now!"

"No!"

Heero growled. After putting the laptop and other items in the car, the young business man stalked over to the playground. Duo stood next to one of the tubes on the top part of the play center looking down at his temporary guardian.

"Get down here." Heero said menacingly.

The long haired boy grinned and shook his head.

"Now!" This was punctuated by Heero jabbing his finger at the ground.

"You can't make me." Duo taunted.

"Like hell!"

Duo's eyes widened in surprise as the Japanese man began to climb the metal ladder attached to the play center. The boy crawled quickly into the tube, escaping immediate capture. Heero quickly assessed the situation as he made it to where Duo had been standing. He had three options. The first was to climb into the tube… not the ideal choice. Second was to climb down off the platform he was on now and climb up to the other platform where the tube ended. Third, he could climb _on_ the tube…

Muttering under his breath, Heero slipped his shoes and socks off to avoid slipping on the smooth, hard plastic, and climbed on the tube; running easily to the other side. Duo was just emerging from the other side when Heero jumped off the tube and landed next to the boy. Duo yelled in surprise but was quick enough to avoid the older man when Heero grabbed at him.

Duo threw himself down the slide to get away from the angry man, but this wasn't enough. Heero jumped off the platform and ran after the braided boy. Duo sprinted to another platform and ducked underneath where more tubes started.

Heero followed, yelling obscenities at the evasive boy. The Japanese man was so caught up in the chase that he didn't notice the other children's mothers yelling for them to stay away from the crazy man in the business suit, and to get in the car because it was time to leave.

Forty-five minutes later, a seething Heero was glaring at a clear part on one of the tubes where his quarry was making faces at him.

"Omae o korosu…" The business man muttered. "If you don't get out here right now… then I'm leaving without you." Heero yelled. At this, Duo stuck out his tongue and laughed. The boy stopped laughing when Heero turned around and headed toward the BMW.

Scrambling out of the tube, Duo yelled, "Where ya goin'?"

Heero didn't answer as he got in his car and slammed the door. When Duo heard the engine start up he climbed off the platform and ran towards the car, but before the boy could reach it, Heero drove off leaving him behind.

Suddenly the silver car stopped and backed up to where Duo stood. The boy's face lit up into a smile when Heero looked at him.

"What?" Heero asked irritably. "I didn't come back for you, I came back for my shoes. Go get them and get in the car."

* * *

The two didn't get back to Heero's place until around five o' clock that evening. They had stopped at Mc Donald's when Duo declared starvation and threatened death if they didn't stop and get food. Heero considered not stopping and seeing if Duo would really die without being fed, but the businessman knew this wouldn't work so he reluctantly pulled into the parking lot.

Luckily for the Japanese man, the food place also had a play center for children and he managed to get two more hours of work done while the braided boy crawled in more tubes, slid down slides and jumped in a pit of brightly colored plastic balls.

But now they were home.

Heero sighed as he flopped backwards on his bed. His head ached, his body ached and his face and neck felt uncomfortably warm.

"Mr. Yuy?"

Heero groaned and sat up. "What?"

"Can we see what's in the other bag?"

"What other bag?"

"The other bag Relena gave you." Duo answered.

Heero nodded and got up for the bag. He had actually forgotten about the 'night' bag. He opened the note and read:

_Mr. Yuy,_

_The first thing you need to do is have Duo take a bath. While he is bathing, order pizza. Spread the tarp that's in the bag on the carpet in front of the television. When Duo is bathed put the ointment on him where he's burned because you didn't remember the sun block did you? After that, have him get in his pajamas and watch the movie and eat the pizza on the tarp. When the movie is over have him get in bed and read him the story in the bag. After that, tell him to stay in bed and go to sleep._

_Do not give in when he pleads to stay awake. _

_See you on Monday._

_Relena Darlian_

Heero stared irritably at the note. He didn't think it was very nice of her to presume that he had forgotten the sun block…. Of course… He _had_ forgotten the sun block, but that was beside the point…

The Japanese man looked over at the waiting boy. The exposed skin on his arms, neck and face were a bright pink. Heero blanched and thought that the boy hadn't looked that pink earlier… He shrugged and looked in the bag. As promised, he found a plastic tarp, a bottle of sun burn ointment, a story book and a movie.

There was a sticky note attached to the movie that read:

_This movie reminds me of you and Duo._

He peeled the note off and looked at the cover. There were animals on the front and large white letters that read, "Ice Age". How this movie, with the strange looking beasts on the cover, could even remotely remind Relena of him was a mystery. Of course he could see how the movie would remind some one of the Duo. The movie had animals… the kid acted like an animal… made sense…

"Oooh! I _love_ that movie!" Duo exclaimed and grabbed the DVD case from Heero. The dark haired man watched as Duo examined the cover then looked at Heero. "Have you ever seen Ice Age?"

"I don't have time to watch stuff like that."

"You only have time to watch stuff with naked people?" Duo asked with a sly grin and a giggle.

Heero opened his mouth but couldn't think of an appropriate answer. Growling, he snatched the movie from Duo. "You don't get to watch this until you take a bath. Now get out of here and bathe." Heero made a shooing motion with his hands and Duo ran out of the room, still laughing.

* * *

By the time Duo emerged from the tub, Heero had laid out the tarp, ordered the pizza, put the DVD in the player and was now sitting before his computer working on his next big project. The young boy, who now looked like a towel with a head and legs, walked into the room and stopped next to him without saying a word. Heero tried valiantly to keep his attention on his work, but for some reason the Japanese man couldn't fathom, he couldn't seem to ignore the boy even though Duo hadn't said a word.

Or maybe it was because Duo hadn't said a word…

The twenty one year old business man looked over to find wide eyes staring back at him.

"What?" Heero grunted.

When Duo looked down and shuffled his feet, but didn't say anything, Heero frowned.

"Speak up kid, you're dripping all over the floor."

Duo looked around on the carpet then broke his silence with, "Where? No I'm not…"

Heero rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. Just tell me what you want."

The small boy was silent for a few more moments before he moved one of his hands out from beneath the towel and held out a hair brush to the unsuspecting man. Heero's eyes narrowed at the brush, then slid over to look at Duo. The longhaired boy seemed to sense the Japanese man's reluctance and changed his facial features to resemble that of a starving puppy who can see that the person in front of it has something to eat.

"No."

"Please…"

"I'm not brushing your hair."

"But it's too hard for me to do it myself…"

Heero raised an eyebrow. "I know how to make it so you can brush it yourself." He said as he opened one of his desk drawers.

"Really? How?" The boy asked excitedly.

When Heero found what he was looking for he turned his head slowly to face Duo with a sly smile.

"Weeeee… CUT IT ALL OFF!" Heero yelled as he produced the scissors from the drawer.

Duo's eyes widened in horror and when Heero stood up from his chair, the boy shrieked and ran out of the room, dropping his towel in the process. The business man stood still for a moment, scissors raised dramatically as he looked from the empty doorway to the forgotten towel. Suddenly, Heero couldn't hold it any more and burst out laughing. Setting the scissors on the desk, he dropped into his chair and put his hands to his stomach.

Apparently, Duo had heard the laughing because his head appeared in the doorway a moment later, scowling at the laughing man. The look on the boy's face only made Heero laugh harder and he covered his eyes with his hands to wipe away the tears that were streaming down his face.

By the time he looked back, Duo had come into the room to retrieve his towel and was folding the cloth over itself to get it to stay around his waist. Having accomplished his task, Duo folded his arms and turned his attention to Heero.

"It's not funny." The boy huffed.

Heero opened his mouth to respond when the doorbell rang. The two looked at each other for a moment. "Must be dinner…" Heero said through deep breaths.

All offenses forgotten, Duo's face lit up in excitement. "What did you order?"

Heero got out of his chair and fished in his suit jacket for his wallet as he walked toward the door. "Your favorite, what else?"

"Pizza?" Came the excited reply.

The Japanese man stopped for a moment, looked at the boy and said seriously. "Oh... You mean sushi isn't your favorite?"

* * *

Heero looked up from his laptop when he realized the movie was over. Reaching over, he snatched the remote from the end table and turned off the television. Silence filled the room and he sighed the sigh of the weary.

Saving what he had been working on, he moved the laptop from his lap to the couch, and stared in half disgust, half amusement at the sight on the floor. Duo lay sprawled out on the tarp, hair loosely put together in the semblance of a braid, eyes closed. His mouth, speckled with dried pizza sauce, was open. A small trickle of saliva made a line down the boy's mouth. A half empty pizza box lay near the sleeping child. Crumbs from the said pizza surrounded Duo like devout worshipers before a god.

Heero looked over to the end table at his own half eaten dinner of rice and vegetables and sighed again before pushing himself off the couch. The young businessman stepped lightly, careful not to disturb the crumbs that littered the tarp, and picked up the pizza box. He closed the lid then placed his own plate on the box and headed to the kitchen to put the food away in the fridge.

Returning from the kitchen, Heero pushed a button on the DVD player, grabbed the shiny disk and was about to grab the case when he saw the note his secretary had written him. He picked it up and scanned it briefly, then grinned smugly as he replaced the movie to its case. Maybe _her_ kid pleaded to stay awake, but he had no such problems. He pushed away a thought that came to mind, a thought about how he hadn't had the kid living with him very long. The Japanese man wanted to relish the fact that Relena Darliandid _not_ know everything.

Turning, Heero took a few steps then stopped in front of the tarp and folded his arms. He could pick the kid up and put him on his bed, but the child's hands and face were greasy from the food, and his pajamas had crumbs on them as well. He could leave the kid there. No problem. But if he did, the kid might wake up and get crumbs everywhere.

Heero pondered over this dilemma for a few minutes, before leaning down and slowly folding the sides of the tarp near Duo to keep the crumbs on the plastic. Then he grabbed the tarp near the boy's feet and dragged it across the carpet, through Duo's bedroom door and into the child's bathroom. Grabbing both ends of the tarp, Heero hoisted the sleeping child up and into the bathtub.

Heero turned to leave the bathroom, but had a quick thought and grabbed one of the towels hanging on the towel rack. Turning slightly he threw the towel onto the sleeping child, frowned, turned fully to straighten one of the corners, then with a nod of satisfaction, left the bathroom.

* * *

1. Baka na gaki (Stupid brat).  
Gozen rokuji da (It's six AM).  
Nan da no (What do you want)?


	6. Sunburn

**In a Child's Eyes**

**Chapter Six**

**Sunburn**

The first thing Heero was aware of, as he slowly came awake, was how warm his face, neck and arms felt. Opening his eyes, he held his arm up in front of his face. His usually tan skin had given way to a dull pink color on the top part of his arm.

The young man gently touched his nose and cheeks and let out a small groan. He had never had a sunburn as far as he could remember. That was partially due to his complexion and partially due to the fact that he had never been one to spend large amounts of time out doors.

Well… people got sunburns every day. Not like it was that big of a deal…

* * *

After flipping on his computer, Heero started himself a pot of coffee. While he waited, the young man sat on one of the chairs at the table and laid his face against the cool wood. He wouldn't be caught dead doing such a thing in public, but in his own house, well that was different.

Besides… it helped.

He sat that way for almost five minutes, listening to the brewing coffee pot and the ticking clock before he realized something seemed off. Lifting his face from the table Heero scanned the kitchen and eating area. Turning in his chair, he let his eyes sweep over the living room.

The rooms were empty.

Heero frowned and looked at the clock. The kid was usually up pretty early, up before even himself usually and yet here it was, late Sunday morning and the house was quiet…

Heero got up from the table and headed toward Duo's room, dreading what disaster might be waiting for him. When he stepped inside the room he saw no sign of the long haired boy. The business man crossed the room and looked in the bathroom. There, where Heero had left him, was Duo.

Heero was alarmed to see that the usually pale skinned boy had turned an even deeper shade of pink during the night.(1) When Heero stepped into the bathroom to get a closer look at Duo, the boy's eyes opened slowly and his lips turned into a small frown.

"I don't feel very good Mr. Yuy…" The boy said faintly.

Heero knelt by the tub. He swallowed, then cleared his throat. "Well…" He began and stopped. He tried to think of what his parents had done when he was sick, but couldn't really come up with anything. He had never been one to get sick often, although he remembered being sick a couple of times the first and second year he had gone away to college.

However, those memories didn't really help him much. When he had gotten sick, which always seemed to be after finals, he had just stayed in bed until the sickness passed. Even when it meant being late coming home for the vacation period, his parents had never seemed to be very concerned about it…

Heero shook his head and tried to concentrate on the situation at hand. The kid was looking up at him as if he would know exactly what to do, which he didn't. Finally, an idea came to him and he said, "Well… You just stay there. I'll be back."

* * *

"HELLO! DARLIAN RESIDENCE!"

Heero pulled the phone away from his ear until the loud voice was silent. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Is Relena Darlian available?"

"Um… Let me check." Came the response. Then another yell. "MOM! MOOOOM! PHOOOONE!"

The twenty one year old blanched at the lack of phone manners. In the background he heard a faint return yell, "I'M BUSY. WHO IS IT?"

In a normal tone the girl on the other line asked, "Um, who is this?"

"Heero Yuy."

There was silence, then, "Heero Yuy? Mom's boooooss?"

Heero frowned. The girl's tone had changed and now sounded very amused. "Yes, that's correct." He said cautiously.

"Oooh okay, hold on." There was a pause and then another yell. "MOM! YOUR BOSS IS ON THE PHONE! YOU KNOW THE ONE YOU SAID HAS A CUTE BUTT!"

Heero pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. He could feel heat coming from his face that had nothing to do with the sunburn. There was a loud squealing sound, then shrieks of laughter coming from the small speaker. Finally a voice sounded that he recognized and he put the phone back to his ear.

"Mr. Yuy?" His secretary sounded frazzled and a tad harassed.

Heero stoically chose to ignore Relena's daughter's comment to avoid further embarrassment, both for himself and the blonde woman, and got directly to the point. "Ms. Relena, I'm sorry to bother you at home on a Sunday, but I have a question…" His voice trailed off as he realized he could have checked the internet first and saved himself the humiliation of having to ask for help.

Now, however, he had her on the line…

"Mr. Yuy? Are you there?"

"Uh... yeah…" He replied lamely.

Another moment of silence.

"You said you had a question…?" She asked.

He took a deep breath. "Yes well, the kid…" His voice trailed off again. Asking her meant admitting he had forgotten the sunblock. Well, it wasn't as if she wouldn't have found out anyway he supposed. "… the kid… he, um, well, he's feeling sick… and…" The words came haltingly out of his mouth.

Luckily she saved him from the agonizing embarrassment of having to ask for her help. "Would you like me to come over?" She asked.

"It's not really… well if you… I'm sure we'll…" He stopped himself and started over. "I would be… deeply grateful… for any assistance you would be willing to provide."

There.

He'd said it.

He felt mortified, but he'd said it.

The answer was instantaneous. "Okay. I'll be over in about thirty to forty minutes. I need to drop my daughter off at her father's house. He gets to have her for the week before school starts up again."

"Alright." He replied lamely. "But what should I do until you get here?"

"Have him lay down and rest until then, okay?"

Heero nodded, then realized she couldn't see him. "Okay."

* * *

Relena folded her arms under her breasts. Her eyes became slits and she slowly turned her head in Heero's direction.

"You put him in the bathtub…?" Her voice was low and flat.

"Well… yeah. I didn't want him to get crumbs on the carpet."

The blonde woman said nothing, only continued to stare at him. Heero was not used to being stared down by people, let alone his secretary, and was about to say something when she turned her gaze away from him and knelt beside the tub.

"He should be on his bed."

"You can't put him on the bed with pizza grease all over him. It will stain the" Her glare cut off the rest of what he was about to say.

"Duo, sweetie, how about we get you into that nice soft bed of yours."

"Okay…" Came the small boy's quiet reply.

Relena held onto the boy's hands and pulled him to a standing position. Before he stepped out of the tub, the blonde woman gently brushed loose crumbs off his pajamas. She turned her head toward Heero and with a slight widening of her eyes, gave him a look that said, 'better?'

The kid was still greasy, but when he opened his mouth to say so, Relena's eyes narrowed. He wisely shut his mouth.

While Relena got Duo settled in his bed, Heero retrieved the burn ointment for her. He watched silently as she applied the ointment and when the long haired boy begged for a story, Heero stepped out of the room to get himself some coffee.

He returned to the room, coffee cup in hand, but stayed in the doorway. His secretary had a book open and was softly reading while showing Duo the pictures.

'_Okaasan.'(2)_ A child's voice called from the recesses of his memory.

'_Okaasan_, _hon wo yodekudasaimasenka.'(3)_

Heero closed his eyes and rubbed them with his free hand.

'_Takara you know I don't like that kid to speak that bird babble you call a language around me.' _

'_Okaa... uh... mother... would you be willing to read to me, please?'_

'_I'm busy now, Heero. Why don't you have your nanny read to you?'_

"She was always too busy…" Heero whispered.

'_But you're always...'_

An echo of a slap sounded in Heero's mind. A phantom sensation made his cheek tingle.

'_Shut up and get the hell out of here. Can't you see that your mother and I are trying to get some work done? There are more important things than you and your damn book. When you can stop acting like a child then we'll have time for you. Now go!'_

Heero took his hand away from his face and opened his eyes. A small amount of moisture glistened on his finger tips.

He didn't want to think about these memories. He wanted to forget.

Slowly, he backed away from the doorway, took a drink of the coffee and headed for his office.

* * *

"Dinner?"

Heero looked up from the computer screen and stared dumbly at the blonde woman who stood before him. It took him a moment to remember where he was and why she was there.

"Huh?" He asked vaguely.

"Dinner. Do you want some?"

His eyebrows knit together and he turned in his chair to check the time. The small time icon at the bottom right hand corner of his computer screen declared it to be fifteen minutes past five o' clock.

The business man sighed and saved the document he had been working on. He couldn't believe he had spent almost all day working, and she had stayed there and dealt with the kid the whole time. It occurred to him that he was very lucky to have her for his secretary. He should probably do something nice for her… or pay her… or something… Heero guiltily pushed aside the thought that he had just pawned off his responsibility for the kid… just like…

He shook his head. He'd just gotten those memories to go away… he didn't want to start thinking about them again.

When he was finished with the computer, Heero turned his attention back to Relena and said, "Yes, dinner would be great."

He got up and followed her to the kitchen. When he looked on the table he saw a plate with fries and some sort of breaded animal shapes…

"What's this?" He asked.

"Dinner."

He looked back down at the plate, then back at her. "You're not serious are you?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"You know I don't eat this kind of stuff…"

"Well, it was in your freezer."

He looked at her for a moment, then it dawned on him. The shopping trip with the kid. That night he had just wanted to get out of the store so he had just bought whatever the boy pointed out.

"I'm not eating this."

The European woman made an exasperated sound. "Fine. Starve."

Heero folded his arms. "Why don't you just feed this to the kid?"

"_Duo_ already ate." Irritation was written all over her face. "_Duo_ is sleeping now."

The Japanese man couldn't think what he could have said to upset her… "What? It's too early, that kid doesn't fall asleep until midnight at least."

She closed here eyes and exhaled. He cast his mind about trying again to think of what he could have said that was wrong.

She pulled out a chair and sat down. "Why don't you take a seat? We need to talk."

The dark haired man looked at her cautiously before sitting. _We need to talk?_ He thought. When a woman said something like that, it was never a good sign…

"Mr. Yuy." She paused, then continued. "I think part of why Duo isn't feeling too well today is because of all the sun he got. It might be a good idea, in the future, to be sure he has sunblock on. His skin is just too light to go without it."

Heero frowned. He could tell she was being diplomatic; trying to say what was needed without offending him.

"Another reason he might not be feeling well is all the junk food you've been feeding him."

"You were the one who said to order pizza for him." Heero said defensively.

"I didn't know you had been feeding him fast food all week."

"How do you know I've been feeding him fast food all week?" He countered back.

"I took your garbage out for you." She said flatly.

The young man stared at her blankly, then said, "Oh…"

"Another thing may be the stress of adjusting to living here."

His eyes widened and he said, mockingly, "_He's_ stressed from adjusting?"

Relena pressed her lips together. She looked as if she were about to say something, but thought better of it. "Mr. Yuy, you're the one who chose to take in this child. You…" another change of direction. "It might be good for you to think on what I've said."

_So diplomatic..._ Heero thought.

"If he still has a fever tomorrow you should take him to see a doctor, but I think he'll be alright. Just be sure to have him put on the ointment until he heals up." She looked at him for a moment. "You might want to use a bit too."

He touched his face and nodded.

She stood up. "Well, it's getting late. I think I'm going to take off."

He followed her to the entry way, then asked her to wait a moment before going into his office. Heero fished in his suit pocked for his money clip and pulled out all the bills. He wasn't sure how much cash he had on hand, but he was sure however much it was would be enough.

"Miss Relena." He said after he returned to the entry way. She looked at him with a questioning look. Heero held out the fold of bills. "I'd like you to take this, for your trouble." She stared at him for a moment, as if trying to decide something, then took the bills; stuffing them in her pocket.

"Thank you." She said simply.

"No. Thank you." He replied.

* * *

When Relena got into her car, she sighed.

_What a mess he's gotten himself into..._ She thought to herself.

There had been so much she had wanted to say, but he was still her boss, and she had no desire to lose her job. She would just have to help out from the sidelines, for Duo's sake.

Remembering the money her boss had given her, she sat up straight and pulled the wad of bills from her pocket. As she started counting, her eyes began to grow large and at one point she looked around nervously.

What was he doing with this much cash? She asked herself, and thought that maybe she should go back and return some of it.

Then she let her eyes run over the man's expensive house, remembered his expensive car, and the thousand dollar suits he wore to work each day.

_Naaa._ She thought, and turned the ignition.

* * *

1 1)"… the inflicted harm is often not immediately obvious. After being burned, skin may turn red 2 to 6 hours later. Pain is worst 6 to 48 hours afterward. The burn continues to develop for 24 to 72 hours after exposure. Skin peeling begins 3 to 8 days after the burn occurs. Common outcomes include tenderness, pain, edema, red and/or peeling skin, rash, nausea and fever Also, a small amount of heat is given off from the burn, giving a warm feeling to the affected area. Sunburns may be first- or second-degree burns." (Obtained from Wikipedia under category 'sunburn')

2 2) Mother (polite)

3 3)Mother would you please read this book to me. (this is very polite, Heero is using the honorific form of yomu to read. I'm making the assumption that Heero's mother would have tried to get him to speak politely whenever he spoke her native tongue, and to avoid baby talk whether Japanese or English. Also I'm making the assumption that the family wasn't very close and quite formal. Actually having him be this polite is probably a little over the top, but I wanted to show just how distant the family members are with each other.)

**Thanks to:**

**MasamuneReforged for betaing for me.**

**shevaleon for making sure my Japanese sounds more colloquial**


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